ABSTRACT
It all happened very quickly. Three thousand dollars would purchase the same amount that $300 used to buy. The value of a dollar, which was already weak inasmuch as one dollar could buy only 29 cents in gold less than two years earlier, now was worth 1.7 cents. Seven or eight months ago, a pair of shoes cost $125, potatoes sold for a whopping $25 per bushel, and a barrel of flour went for $275. 1
